A Clone, A Pretender
by Halloween Fangirl
Summary: This is a fic where Thad came to the past instead of Bart. I will be changing some events so it will be more interesting. Attention! This fic used to be called impulse! No wait, thats inertia! I have since changed the name.
1. Who Are You?

Disclaimer: I secretly own young justice and the impulse comics! No, I'm just kidding. I own absolutely nothing all rights go to their respective owners.

"Unknown energy impulse detected." The mountain's computer said. "Computer! Lock down base!" Nightwing shouted as he, Robin, and Beast Boy got ready for a fight. Then a machine came out of nowhere and opened up revealing a boy inside.

He slowly climbed out looking around with - wonder? "Well I think we found out unknown energy impulse." Beast Boy said. The boy seemed to not notice them at all, to busy looking around.

Nightwing and Robin were to busy analyzing the boy to respond. After looking around, the boy's eyes widened. Then he started jumping up and down. "It worked!" He cried, "It really worked!"

Then Nightwing decided to do something and said, "Who are you?" He doubted the boy would respond, but when he turned around, the boy cringed as if just noticing them for the first time.

He then said, "Sorry to bother you, but I've got people to see, things to do, you know, the usual." Then sped off.

The trio of heroes wasn't exactly sure what to do, but then they suddenly heard a scream.

Rushing to the sound, they found the speedster, (cause that's what he turned out to be,) standing in front of Blue Beetle. He was looking at him with wide eyes, and appeared to be having a panic attack.

Nightwing put his escrima sticks away, and cautiously approached the speedster. When he offered no sign of resistance, Nightwing reached out, putting a hand in his shoulder, and said, "Blue Beetle is a hero, there's no reason to be scared."

Then the speedster looked at him strange, and something akin to realIzation crossed his face, and he briefly muttered, "The past, you're in the past."

He then realized how close he was to Nightwing, and backed away, abstracting himself from the vigilantes grip. "Who are you?" Beast Boy asked, and Nightwing said, "It's important we know who you are."

At this, the boy smirked, obviously coming down from his panic attack. "Well I guess it would only be fair, since I know who you are, Dick Grayson." Nightwing went still and Robin's mouth dropped open.

"My name is Inertia."

Author's note:

Sorry the chapter is so short, it was late and I felt I needed to post something. This is basically a fic where Thad accidentally came back to the past instead of Bart with a few changes in how things turn out because him and Bart are, well, opposites.

I am considering doing a fic after this with Bart already in the past, and Thad shows up. Please tell me if you are interested.

Also, please comment and tell me if you enjoyed this and want more! I am a first time writer and need some advice. Will update again soon!


	2. Off to Meet the Relatives

Disclaimer: I come from the future where I own young justice and dc. I'm joking. :( I own nothing.

Nightwing was the first to act, he grabbed Inertia and pulled him to a interrogation cell with Gar pestering him all the way about his secret identity.

"Please, just give me a minute Gar, I have to contact the League." Nightwing says. Robin, still just standing there, finally snaps out of it after following Inertia, Gar, and Nightwing to the interrogation cell.

"Okay, kid, how did you find out who we are." Nightwing said, after contacting the league. "You told me. In the future."

"The future?" Tim asked, skeptical. "I'm with Robin," Nightwing said. There's no way that you're from the future."

"Check the radiation coming off the machine I arrived in." Inertia said. "It should, theoretically, read 'time machine' from your scans. In the meantime I have a - sort of, I guess? - Grandpa to save."

With that, Inertia vibrated through the wall, (through the wall!) and ran off. A few seconds later, he came back and said, "Who is the Flash by the way, forgot to tell you that." And ran off again.

Nightwing sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Better call Wally and Barry." he said. Gar and Tim just looked at each other and said, "What are we supposed to do?"

Authors note:

I am not entirely sure how to write Tim as Robin, so I hope I am doing okay. I have no idea how to write Gar, so I am doing my best. As for Thad, I am writing him slightly more carefree and naive because in this I am having him spend some time with Bart in the apocalyptic future and than be caught again by President Thawne and the Reach, but he is going back to how he was with Bart, to hide the circumstances of the future. I am rewriting a lot of characters in this story, so remember: you have been warned.

Also, sorry this chapter is so short, I stopped here because I wasn't sure how the meeting with Barry was going to go, and on Young Justice, the scene stops there on a cliffhanger, kinda, and if felt like an appropriate way to end the chapter. Will be updating in a couple of weeks my life has been busy, and please comment!


	3. Meeting the Relatives

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own DC. If I did Inertia would have turned out much differently.

"Happy Anniversary!" Barry and Iris greeted.

"Barry, you and Iris never forget." said Jay.

"You kiddin'?" asked Barry. "We idolize you two, seventy years of marriage is quite the achievement."

"The achievement is how Joan's managed to put up with me for that long." responded Jay.

Suddenly, Barry's phone rang. "Just a sec," he said. "Barry Allen… What do you mean Inertia? The science law? ...Wait, Inertia's another speedster? … He says he's my what?"

Than suddenly Inertia appeared in front of Barry. "I'm - kind of - your grandson. Try to keep up." he said to Barry, rolling his eyes in the process. "So, your Barry Allen?" he asked. Then froze. "I mean, of course you are. You just look a lot younger." Inertia said nervously. He then turned to the rest of the room. "Yep, your Iris West, the Garricks are here, everything good so far."

"Hold on, hold on," Barry said. "You are not my grandson. From the future or any other - when - heck, I don't even have kids!"

"Uh, Barry," Iris spoke up, recovering from her shock. "I'm pregnant. I wanted to tell you later, when we were alone…" She trailed off, glaring at Inertia who just shrugged.

"Not my fault you weren't prepared." he said. "But Flash, you can't leave this house until tomorrow morning."

"Why not?" Barry asked suspiciously.

"You just can't." Inertia just sat down on the floor after that and fidgeted with his hands. When he noticed them still staring at him he said, "Why are you guys staring at me? Just go back to whatever you were doing before I came here." He than shifted and flinched.

Jay, noticing this, asked, "Are you okay, son?"

"Yeah, fine." Inertia said. "Just - uh - sore."

"Sore?" Barry asked. "From what?"

"Nothing," Inertia said hurriedly.

"You don't get sore from nothing," Jay added.

Then a phone rang. Barry pulled out his phone again, looking at it. "It's mine, babe." Iris said, holding up hers. After speaking to someone for a couple of minutes, she turned to Barry, fear etched on her face. "They're evacuating downtown. A new superpowered lunatic is baying for blood. You're blood."

As Barry got his uniform on, Inertia sped over too Barry. "No, you can't go!" he said. "The league can handle him. You have to stay."

"Look," Barry said. "I'll deal with you later. For now, just stay put." Than he sped out the door.

"Wait!" Inertia called out. Then he sped out after Barry.

see what I tried to do?*

After defeating Neutron, Jay, Barry, and Wally searched for Inertia. "So no one calls me when a kid shows up claiming to be my cousin." Wally complained, as he had showed up during the fight.

"There was no time," Barry said as they ran towards Inertia. He was down where Neutron had been. When they came closer, they saw Neutron but - he wasn't Neutron anymore? "Is that - ?" Barry asked.

"Yeah," Inertia said. "You might want to give him something to - cover up."

"What happened?" Jay asked.

"No idea," Inertia said. Than he ran off after Wally and Barry.

Jay stayed behind for a minute looking at where Inertia went. "There's something that kid's hiding," he muttered to himself. "Something bigger than just secrets about the future."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Uh oh! Jay has caught on! Anyways, I am so sorry about not updating! I had no way to write this and will try to update more soon. I am actually experiencing a sort of writer's block, so if you have any ideas or suggestions please tell me. I am now on Ao3, Wattpad (my name is Blackisacoloridiots), and , but I only have this story. Nothing else. Also, this chapter was dedicated to averyarts101, Happy Birthday! I will be straying from the course the season originally took and focusing more on the characters I like. I also was thinking about bringing in Bart and Scarlet Scarab later, do any of you have objections? As always please comment and hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	4. Sidehugs are always awkward

Inertia sighed. Of course, his plan was still intact and running perfectly. At least better than Impulse ever could. Not that he wanted to. He was instructed to take Impulse's place and getting the old Justice League to trust him. It wasn't working super well.

Inertia couldn't tell them about his grandfather, but at the same time, he knew they would always mistrust him because of it. He could already tell the first flash, Jay Garrick, was getting suspicious.

Inertia looked around his room. It looked much different than his room back at the compound where he was created. If that place could have even been called a room.

This place was welcoming - to some extent, but certainly more than the harsh metal and cold, unfeeling walls of Inertia's last room. It had light orange walls and white trim and doors. The sheets were a dark orange, and so was the bookshelf next to the bed. There were a few plants on the bookshelf along with some books.

This worried Inertia. If he was expected to read, then there was a greater chance he could be outed from being further ahead in the future. Maybe he could get out of reading those books, but soon he would be expected to go to school. And there was no way he could be able to go to school and read Interlac.

Inertia was currently being held at Mount Justice. After helping the Flashes with Neutron, everyone had decided that Inertia could be trusted. At least enough to be kept under surveillance.

Inertia had a long way to go before they trusted him completely, but he did have time.

Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door. Inertia flinched, thinking of all the times his grandfather would knock on the door to drag him to yet another painful training session. And they were always painful.

He was soon brought back to reality, however, when a cheerful voice floated through the door. "Inertia, dinner is ready and I was wondering if you would be joining us?"

Inertia immediately recognized the voice as the over cheerful Martian that had helped found Young Justice. "Yes," he called. "Just give me one moment!"

Taking a moment to collect himself, Inertia sped down the hallway into the kitchen. He had been given directions earlier around the mountain, but they were unneeded. His grandfather had made sure he knew the entirety of the mountain down to the plumbing pipes.

As Inertia skidded into the kitchen, he noticed there were an array of people in either their hero uniforms, or their normal clothes. Inertia quickly grabbed his food and ran to the back of the kitchen.

He found it better to not get attached to people he would be manipulating. His plan of avoid everyone as much as he can was foiled by Nightwing.

"Hey," Nightwing said, smiling. "I wanted to apologize for earlier, seeing as you ended up being on our side, I just guess I'm starting to get a bit paranoid with everything that's going on."

Inertia stared blankly and then said, "Oh, no, it's fine I completely understand. Never can be too careful, can we?"

Nightwing suddenly got a weird look in his eyes. "No, we can't."

Inertia panicked. Did Nightwing know what was going on? He was one of the people that needed to have full trust in Inertia.

Inertia's panic was the reason he messed up. So badly. He gave Nightwing a side hug and said, "It's okay." He also had a derpy face. Then he ran away.

'That was so weird. At least that side hug wasn't awkward.' He thought, back in his room. 'Oh, who am I kidding, side hugs are always awkward.'

Author's Note: Thank you so much for liking, following, and reading. I would also like to thank my friend, GhostSuperNerd, for helping me with writing this chapter. Also, if you follow me I will follow back. Thanks!!!


	5. A Whirlwind of Problematic Bugs

To say Thad didn't know what to do was a major understatement. On one hand, he could easily just complete his mission, and be done with it. But with that, he would majorly disrupt the timeline, and he didn't really want to hurt anyone in this time.

Thad had been spending more and more time with the Allens because he was staying with the Garricks who were very close with the Allens. Jay and Joan Garrick seemed very accepting, if a bit concerned about him, which made them very nosy. Thad knew they meant well but that didn't change the fact that no one could know about his past. Iris was pretty accepting as well if a bit wary just like Barry was. 'What a coincidence,' Thad thought. 'Wary-Barry.' Wally didn't seem to like him at all, but he also seemed to have been a jerk to everyone, even Nightwing, his supposed best friend.

Thad decided to sneak out for a walk. Thad wasn't sure if the Garricks would let him out to do whatever he wanted, as his 'Grandfather' had not, but he really needed to move. He was a speedster - they always had to move. And if the Garricks had an issue, he would take whatever punishment they dished out when he came back. Better to do it and be punished then ask first and still be punished if they said no.

He threw on some black tennis shoes, regular denim jeans, a green t-shirt and a black hoodie. The Garricks had got him three sets of clothes, and a set of pajamas. They said they would get more later, but Thad didn't really care. He had never had other clothes besides his suit, so he was surprisingly very ecstatic about having other clothes. He didn't expect regular clothes to be so comfy. Unfortunately, Thad knew he would lose them when he went back to the future.

Thad opened the window and slowly climbed out. His window was just above the overhang of the Garricks front porch, so all he had to do was climb out onto the roof, shimmy down one of the poles holding up the overhang, and he was free. Thad ran a little, exercising his powers, but finally came back to Keystone and decided to just walk around at normal speed.

Suddenly, there was a gust of bright light. Thad was thrown back onto the sidewalk. A big wind blew around trash cans, leaves, and caused lights to flicker on the formally quiet residential street of Keystone. A strange figure was thrown out of the bright light. Just as suddenly as the light and wind came, it ended.

Slowly getting up, Thad saw trash and leaves everywhere, and a few lights were still flickering but other than that the street looked completely normal. Except for, you know, the figure in what appeared to be a red version of the Blue Beetle armor lying on the concrete. The figure slowly leaned onto his elbows while still on the ground and exclaimed, "Santo cielo!" (Holy crap!).

Recognizing the figure, Thad said, "Hey Scarlet."

Thad wasn't sure how the Garricks would react to Scarlet Scarab. He had already told Martìn to wait in the bushes by the house and to make sure to not get caught because they didn't need to deal with people thinking Scarlet was a stalker.

When Thad climbed back up the overhang and into his room again, he saw the Garricks sitting there. And they did not look pleased. Thad could feel his heart speed up. His palms began to get sweaty. Despite his earlier words, Thad was still nervous about what type of punishment he would receive. There was no chance now that the Garricks wouldn't do _something_. "Where were you?" Mr. Garrick asked.

"I just went out for a walk," Thad asked. He tried to hide the tremor in his voice because he knew that his 'Grandfather hated when he spoke with a tremor or a stutter. Thad thought he was pretty successful but he didn't know if the Garricks still heard it.

Mrs. Garrick seemed to sense his terror because she shifted and opened her mouth. Panic shot through Thad. Now that they knew he was scared the punishment would surely be a hundred times worse. At least, that's the only reason Thad could give for what he blurted out next. "Please don't punish me! I swear, I won't sneak out again, but please don't hurt me!"

At this point, even Thad was disgusted. Begging would do nothing. Now the punishment would be even worse! Thad didn't know why he was digging himself a bigger hole. Normally he handled these things so well. He supposed it was the unknown variable of what the Garricks would do to him. They didn't have the technology to do the things that Thad's 'Grandfather' did, but who knows if the Justice League did. They might even give him to the Justice League for punishment.

Suddenly, Thad remembered Martìn, hiding in the bushes. If he heard anything and came to help, it would be even worse for them. They could fend off the Garricks together but not the Justice League! Thad had to find some way to warn him. All these thoughts were going through That's head at lightning speed, or speedster speed, whatever you want to call it.

Mr. and Mrs. Garrick looked confused, but didn't say anything. They just merely gave each other worried looks. Maybe Thad could convince them to move his punishment elsewhere, that way Martìn wouldn't be able to hear it. It would be suspicious if he tried to get them to move it now, though. He would have to wait until they decided what his punishment would be. That could be the only reason they were waiting so long to say anything, he reasoned.

Then, Mrs. Garrick spoke. "Thad," She said, in a quiet and calm manner, "We won't hurt you or any child in our care for going for a walk or for anything, really. We were simply worried about you, because we didn't know where you were."

That.. Didn't make much sense. They could know where he was by accessing his tracker, everyone had those, right? And why would they be worried about him? He was expendable. He was just a clone. But they didn't know that. That must be why they hadn't punished him. They didn't know he was a clone! We're normal people not punished all the time? Thad thought they were extremely lucky if they weren't.

Well, if that was the case, Thad thought, then he would do everything in his power to make sure they didn't find out he was a clone. He would only remind them of his tracker. But then a terrible thought occurred to him. His tracker could, in fact, be used to hurt him. So Thad wouldn't remind them of the tracker because then they might use that against him.

Instead he said, "Right, of course, sorry." He smiled sheepishly, hoping the Garricks would drop it.

Mr. Garrick didn't drop it. He looked worried. "Thad, has anyone ever hurt you for that in the past?"

"No," Thad lied. "I just heard stories about people in the past it was nothing. There is something I need to tell you about, though. I have a friend that just came from the future, like me, and he looks exactly like Blue Beetle bit that's just because he is from another universe, he's not a clone, I swear." Thad rambled.

Mrs. Garrick had not understood most of what Thad said, but Mr. Garrick did. "Where is this friend of yours, Thad?

"Um.. He may or may not be hiding in the bushes, I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do, I couldn't take him to the Justice League, please don't be mad, please.. " At this point, Thad was rambling while looking as though he might vibrate through the floor and possibly through the core of the Earth.

"Thad," Mr. Garrick said soothingly. "We're not mad, we are just concerned for you and your friend. Can you please take us to him?"

While this did nothing to assuage Thad's fears, he still took the Garrick's out their front door and around the bushes to where Martin was hiding. Thad called out to Martin quietly. "Hey, Scarlet? Can you come out now? They know already."

Scarlet warily came out of the thick tall foliage that surrounded the Garrick's house. He moved slowly to stand by Thad. Unlike Thad, he had no qualms with killing either of the Garricks, should they try to hurt him or Thad. "What happened to not telling them?" he asked Thad.

"Did you really think that was going to work?" Thad hissed back. He didn't know why they were whispering, the Garricks could still hear them, they were standing right there.

Mr. Garrick spoke up. "Well, I for one, am glad you did tell us. We need to know about these kinds of things in order to help you. However, we do need to take you to the Justice League." Noticing the panic that filled both boys' faces, he added, "Just for a simple health evaluation. You both come from the same time, yes?" They nodded. "We still don't know what affects that could have had on both or yours bodies."

"If that was a concern of yours, why didn't you test me sooner?" Thad asked.

"We wanted you to trust us more before we suggested something like that, but now that your friend is here, I think it is more imperative that we do it now." Mr. Garrick said.

Finally, both Thad and Scarlet agreed.

* * *

Okay, so this has been very hard and time consuming to write. I rewrote the whole chapter like three times, but I hope anyone who reads this will like it. I am not sure that I wrote everyone in character, but I am trying the best I can. And I think any person who would hold a baby at gunpoint would have no qualms about abusing a child, so I was trying to address the fact that President Thawne probably would have abused Thad, which isn't addressed much. Thank you for reading! Please comment and leave kudos if you liked it!


	6. The Daunting Letter

This chapter is dedicated to RaillyTheDonut on Wattpad for kicking my butt into gear and getting me to write this next chapter.

 _Grandfather -_

 _There was an unexpected glitch in the plan. Because of this, I am slightly off schedule but I am sure that I will complete the task on time, possibly even sooner now._

Thad shook his head animatedly. Could he even trust his grandfather? Okay, scratch that. Of course he couldn't. He never would be able to. The question should have been, what would his grandfather gain from killing Martín? Not much, but what about experimenting on him? Oh, who was he kidding. His "grandfather" was watching his every move. He would probably never be able to get away. No, not probably. Most definitely. Keeping this in mind, he continued his letter.

 _Scarlet Scarab fell through a portal in the middle of Keystone City. Luckily, I was around and able to hide it from the Justice League, but the Garricks still found out. I was still able to introduce Scarlet Scarab as a friend, and they trust the both of us, for now._

Thad thought back to what had happened in the last couple of days. How much would his grandfather expect in the report? How much could Thad risk to put in the report? He couldn't type it up and send it, like he would prefer to, but none of the Justice League could read Interlac. Still, Thad was concerned. If anyone would find a way to interpret Interlac, it would be the Justice League. Besides, Interlac was based off of a whole bunch of different languages from the past, spoken currently now. The Justice League would only have to put them all together.

Wonder Woman had seen to Scarlet Scarab in the medbay, and had declared him safe and healthy, though he did share the same exact genetic composition as Blue Beetle. Blue Beetle had not met Scarlet Scarab yet, but had been informed of his existence. Thad was seen to as well. Wonder Woman had wanted to run a DNA test, but Thad knew that if she had done that, he would have come up as being related to Reverse Flash, instead of the actual Flash.

Batman definitely did not trust him. This Thad knew he had to report to his grandfather.

 _I had to refuse a DNA test, so I believe Batman is more suspicious than ever. Any advice on how to deal with this would be appreciated. -Inertia_

Just as Thad signed the letter Martín burst into the room. The Garricks had taken in Martín as well as Thad, and Martín now looked like an average teenager. He probably passed better than Thad did, what with his golden eyes. Thad forced himself to focus back on the present. Just because he didn't jump everywhere like Bart did, doesn't mean he didn't have something similar to ADHD as well. Wait.. FOCUS! Martín's eyes had narrowed in on Thad's paper. "Please tell me that is not what I think it is." Martín said guardedly.

"You know I have to talk to him," Thad jutted his chin up a little and took on a defensive tone, as he always did whenever Martín talked to him about his grandfather. "If I don't, he'll kill me."

"Would he really, though? You're (kind of?) his grandson." Martín said. Thad gave him a look that clearly said, 'Oh, sweet, young innocence. Even though Martín's older than me and that doesn't really make a lot of sense.'

"You haven't met him. He's much worse than you think, trust me." Thad said.

Martín clearly wasn't letting this go. "Thad, he's still an abusive jerk. No, wait-jerk isn't even the right word. I don't even know what to call him. Whoever thinks that they can do to their family what he's done to his, is sick." Martín's voice was dripping with venom. "And, your right! NO ONE can stop him! It's just not right!"

"No one can stop who?" Mr. Garricks head popped into the room. "Heard you boys yelling. Everything okay?"

"It's nothing." Thad and Martín said in unison.

"Okay," Mr. Garrick said, clearly not convinced. "But if you boys have anything you ever want to tell me, I'm here." Then he closed the door.

Thad grabbed up his stuff and he started to walk out of the room. He needed to figure out how to get this back to President Thawne. As he walked past Martín, he stopped. "You were right about most of that," Thad said. Then he smiled ruefully. "All of that, except for one thing - I'm not his family. You and I both know that I'm not even considered human." Then he walked out the door.

* * *

The Reach's plan was coming to fruition, but the Justice League wouldn't let Thad or Martín near any of the missions or planning. Batman had made his distrust of them even clearer, and it was starting to leak into Robing, Thad could tell. But then something terrifying started happening. People were being abducted and murdered by someone faster than any of the Flashes. Much faster. And no one knew who it could be. Except for, of course, Thad and Martín.

One day, Martín stopped Thad in the hallway of the Garricks home. "You don't think Zoom is working with Thawne, do you?" he whispered urgently.

"Which one?" Thad whispered back. "President Thawne, definitely not. But he probably is working with Eobard Thawne. Otherwise, how could he have gotten to this time? He isn't actually fast, he can just stop time."

"You don't think he's after Wally, do you?" Martín said. "He's not as fast, yet, right? Wally's slower than Barry Allen, and he was one of the slowest Flashes ever, wasn't he?"

Thad said he wasn't sure. "Barry Allen was - is - just about one of the slowest Flashes ever. And Hunter Zolomon has been getting more and more desperate over the years. But I don't know. Would Zoom really be that desperate to do something like this on his own, or risk having a partner?"

"If he had a couple more things to gain from this, then yeah." said Martín. "I think anybody would."

"What are you two boys standing here whispering in the hallway about?" Asked Mrs. Garrick, not unkindly. "I come back from the grocery shopping and you two are just standing there. If you two wouldn't mind helping me with the groceries it would be greatly appreciated." The two boys murmured an affirmative and went to help Mrs. Garrick. Once all of the groceries were put away, the two went upstairs.

Joan turned to her husband and told him about what she had just seen. "Jay, don't you think that there is something strange about how those two are acting?" she said worriedly.

"Yes, I do." Jay said contemplatively, staring out the door where the two boys had disappeared just moments ago. He told Joan everything he had observed from when he first met Thad. "Whatever is going on, I have a feeling the boys aren't going to tell us themselves. I also feel like one or both of them is in danger from this. If this is true, we need to figure out what it is ourselves."

Joan looked down at the cream counter. Her face was lined with more worry than ever before and she seemed to have aged years in moments. "I agree." she said, solemnly.

* * *

Another chapter! Seriously, I wouldn't have posted so soon if it wasn't for RaillyTheDonut. I love all of your comments, and they really do spur me on to writing more and giving me inspiration. Thank you for all of your appreciation, and I'll try to update about every Saturday. Thanks for reading!


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